The St. Denys-du-Plateau Church, a remarkable creation of the late architect Jean-Marie Roy erected in 1964, was part of this renewal (second Vatican Consul), at once architectural and religious.

Converting and expanding such an eloquent example of modern Quebec architectural heritage is a very delicate operation which must be approached with respect and humility.[…] Saint-Denys-du-Plateau Church deserves this special consideration due to its unusual, dynamic volume, which evokes a huge tent inflated by the wind and anchored to the ground with tensioners.

The nave houses the library’s public functions, with shelves and work and reading areas, while the addition contains the administration and community hall. This separation of functions means that the community hall can be kept open outside library opening hours, while the spectacular and monumental volume of the nave is preserved, since the architectural concept is to transform the space into a model of spatial appropriation as a reinterpretation of the interior.

To accentuate the fluidity of this volume, the solid soffit above the window has been replaced by glass panel which allows each beam to visually slip seamlessly to its exterior steel base , – a revelation of visual continuity.

The volume replacing the presbytery and community hall occupies the same footprint and was executed in clear, silk-screened and coloured glass panels. It is separated from the library by a void, marking the transition from old to new. At the front, extending the structure of the choir-screen and the canopy, a code-required emergency staircase is housed in a coloured glass enclosure signalling the new place, dominating a new parvis, reconfigured with street furniture, trees and other greenery. Building on transparency and reflection, the architects have made a strong statement with colour at the ends of the building, an allusion to the vibrant, bold colours of the 1960s, which contrast the whiteness and brilliance newly captured in the remarkable form of the original church.

Press release written up by
Plante, Jacques (2013) Architectures de la connaissance au Québec, Québec :
Les Publications du Québec, 260 p.

Name of project:
Monique-Corriveau Library
Enlargement and conversion of the St-Denys-du-Plateau Church

Data sheet

Name of project:
Monique-Corriveau Library
Enlargement and conversion of the St-Denys-du-Plateau Church
Location:
1100 route de l’Église, Québec [Qc] G1V 3V9
Name of client:
Ville de Québec, arrondissement Sainte-Foy – Sillery – Cap-Rouge
Architects:
Dan Hanganu + Côté Leahy Cardas Architects
Architecte of the church Saint-Denys-du-Plateau (1964)
Jean-Marie Roy
Architect in charge:
Jacques Côté, Sébastien Laberge,
Design Team:
Dan S. Hanganu, Gilles Prud’homme, Diana Cardas, Sébastien Laberge
Team :
Pascal Gobeil, Martin Girard, Marie-Andrée Goyette (CLC)
Olivier Grenier, Martine Walsh, Anne-Catherine Richard, Marc Despaties (DHA)
Engineers:
Civil / Structure
BPR
Mechanical / Electricity
BPR
Acoustician
Audiofax
Contractor:
Pomerleau
Artists :
Claudie Gagnon, « Réseaux ou La forêt des connaissances »
Project size:
4400m2 (3 levels)
Cost:
$14.7 millions
Date of completion:
Occupation autumn 2013
Photographer:
Stéphane Groleau